Gateshead Technology Innovation
Gateshead Technology Innovation
Superfast broadband that travels at the speed of light is now connecting businesses in Gateshead to the rest of the world.
The much-anticipated G-ti - Gateshead Technology Innovation is now live and is connecting businesses in the Borough through an ultra high speed open access fibre network.
Gateshead Council is proud to be the first local authority in England to install the world-class fibre network, in a joint venture with Alcatel-Lucent from the 21hectare site of Baltic Business Quarter.
The network, which has been installed in the Gateshead International Business Centre, will not only more make businesses here extra efficient but will enable them to use new technologies and applications that can put them at the forefront of the business world.
G-ti also offers an attractive and competitively priced open access to new businesses, which could potentially save them thousands of pounds in set up costs.
Now businesses can operate at a superspeed of up to a massive 10 Gigabits per second of bandwidth with a capability of delivering speeds in the region of 40 Gigabits per second to meet future demand.
Backed by robust research and spurred on by a vision of becoming the best connected borough in the country, Gateshead Council took the decision to develop a telecoms network that places Gateshead at the forefront of Next Generation Access to broadband technology.
The network G-ti operates is superfast and state of the art - as fast and reliable as any in the world. Any service provider can deliver any application to users on the network – currently to businesses but could possibly be to residents in the future.
Leader of Gateshead Council Cllr Mick Henry said:
"This joint venture with Alcatel-Lucent has been such an exciting project to have been involved with and we are proud to use fibre optic communications to connect Gateshead to the rest of the world.
"Gateshead Council is also delighted to be at the forefront of broadband technology and leading the way by being the first local authority to go live with a project like this.
"We have invested in the future with this super-fast fibre open access network to enable businesses in Gateshead to compete on a global level and at the speed of light.
"This will give businesses the opportunity to become more efficient by delivering work faster than ever before.
"We are confident G-ti , as a world-class communications network, will help local business perform on a global level and encourage them to embrace new technologies that will keep them ahead of their game."
President of Alcatel-Lucent North Europe Lakh Jemmett said:
"Deploying a fibre infrastructure is a relatively sophisticated, large-scale project that needs to be done right the first time.
"At Alcatel-Lucent, we have a growing number of open access network projects to our credit and so we can leverage a unique combination of experience and expertise to address the challenge of designing, deploying and operating Fibre To The Home (FTTH) networks making it considerably easier for local authorities such as Gateshead Council to achieve their FTTH objectives."
CEO of the Community Broadband Network (CBN) Malcolm Corbett said:
"G-ti is a great project, adding to the growing patchwork of next generation broadband initiatives around the country.
"We are particularly pleased that G-ti has become an important founder of the new Independent Networks Co-operative Association, sewing the patchwork together.
"The CBN team is working hard with a variety of public and private sector organisations seeking to replicate the success of Gateshead and other next generation projects."